To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide that COPS grant funds may be used for local law enforcement recruits to attend schools or academies if the recruits agree to serve in precincts of law enforcement agencies in their communities.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7624 To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide that COPS grant funds may be used for local law enforcement recruits to attend schools or academies if the recruits agree to serve in precincts of law enforcement agencies in their communities. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 16, 2020 Mr. CORREA (for himself, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. HARDER of California, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide that COPS grant funds may be used for local law enforcement recruits to attend schools or academies if the recruits agree to serve in precincts of law enforcement agencies in their commu- nities. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. STRONG COMMUNITIES PROGRAM. 3 Section 1701 of Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 4 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10381) is amended— 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7624.IH H7624 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7624 IH (1) by redesignating subsection (m) as sub- 1 section (n); and 2 (2) by inserting after subsection (l) the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘(m) COPS STRONG COMMUNITIES PROGRAM.— 5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITIONS.— 6 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligi- 7 ble entity’ means— 8 ‘‘(i) an institution of higher education, 9 as defined in section 101 of the Higher 10 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001), 11 that, in coordination or through an agree- 12 ment with a local law enforcement agency, 13 offers a law enforcement training program; 14 or 15 ‘‘(ii) a local law enforcement agency 16 that offers a law enforcement training pro- 17 gram. 18 ‘‘(B) LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGEN- 19 CY.—The term ‘local law enforcement agency’ 20 means an agency of a State, unit of local gov- 21 ernment, or Indian Tribe that is authorized by 22 law or by a government agency to engage in or 23 supervise the prevention, detection, investiga- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7624.IH H7624 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7624 IH tion, or prosecution of any violation of criminal 1 law. 2 ‘‘(2) GRANTS.—The Attorney General may use 3 amounts otherwise appropriated to carry out this 4 section for a fiscal year (beginning with fiscal year 5 2020) to make competitive grants to local law en- 6 forcement agencies to be used for recruits to attend 7 eligible entities if the recruits agree to serve in law 8 enforcement agencies in their communities. 9 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant 10 under this subsection, each recruit described in 11 paragraph (2) shall— 12 ‘‘(A) serve as a full-time law enforcement 13 officer for a total of not fewer than 4 years dur- 14 ing the 8-year period after the date on which 15 the recruit completes a law enforcement train- 16 ing program for which the recruit received ben- 17 efits; 18 ‘‘(B) complete their service in a local law 19 enforcement agency located within— 20 ‘‘(i) 5 miles of the residence of the re- 21 cruit where the recruit has resided for not 22 fewer than 5 years; or 23 ‘‘(ii) if the recruit resides in a county 24 with less than 100,000 residents, within 20 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7624.IH H7624 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7624 IH miles of the residence of the recruit where 1 the recruit has resided for not fewer than 2 5 years; and 3 ‘‘(C) submit evidence of employment of the 4 recruit to the eligible agency in the form of a 5 certification by the chief administrative officer 6 of the local law enforcement agency where the 7 recruit is employed. 8 ‘‘(4) REPAYMENT.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If a recruit does not 10 complete the service described in paragraph (3), 11 the recruit shall submit to the local law enforce- 12 ment agency an amount equal to any benefits 13 the recruit received under this subsection. 14 ‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney Gen- 15 eral shall promulgate regulations that establish 16 categories of extenuating circumstances under 17 which a recruit may be excused from repayment 18 under subparagraph (A).’’. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:55 Aug 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7624.IH H7624 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS